Chat Noir's Confession
by Iconicbloodwillow
Summary: After two years of holding the Miraculous, Chat Noir has finally mustered up the courage to tell his lady how he really feels. A horrible danger lurks around the corner. Will Chat ever get the chance to tell Ladybug how he really feels or will the powers of evil destroy them first?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Wow, okay. This is my very first story on this website, so hopefully you will like it. I hope it's good enough, and if it isn't, I'm always open for constructive criticism and suggestions! Thanks! :)**

It was a beautiful night. Adrien sat in the dark confines of his prison…uh…his room. The darkness and silence pressed down on him, surrounding him. Plagg was sitting on the top of Adrien's desk, scarfing down a wheel of Camembert. Adrien rolled his eyes at the small Kwami and the strong smell of the cheese permeating through the room. Adrien eagerly checked his watch, more than ready for his nightly patrol to start with his lady.

He sighed dreamily at the thought of her. He loved everything about her. He loved how confident and smart and brave she was. He loved her deep blue eyes, her tinkling laugh, her warm smile, and the way that she made him feel, even when she wasn't around. His absolute love and adoration for her could not be contained anymore. He needed to tell her how he felt. He was going to confess to her tonight. Hopefully she could return his feelings. If she didn't, well…..

* **BEEP…BEEP...BEEP** *

His watch timer startled him out of his thoughts. It was time to get going.

"Plagg! Transform me!" he shouted. There was a flash of bright green light, and Chat Noir was standing where Adrien had been. Chat Noir and Adrien, though they were the same person, were truly opposites. Adrien was pretty much perfect and the most polite and gentlemanly teenager that you could ever know. Chat Noir, though chivalrous and gentlemanly in nature, was bolder and stronger. He was as carefree as possible while still being as serious as possible about his responsibility. Being Chat Noir set him free, let him do what he wanted to do and be who he wanted to be. And yet, though the hero and his alter-ego were opposite in personality, they still had the same kind and pure heart with a large capacity for love.

Chat stood in the darkness, barely visible. He let the shadows envelop him completely for a moment. He liked the dark, and he liked to become one with the dark; turn into the dark. He was the shadow, and Ladybug was the light. She was the day to his night, the sun to his moon. She was as bright as all the stars in the sky, and in his opinion, she was far lovelier than everything in the universe combined.

Chat swallowed and gathered up his courage, setting off towards their regular meeting spot for patrol. He stealthily leaped on the rooftops, loving how the cool night air felt against his face. His room was large and magnificent, but it was really just a cage, one that his father forced him in to.

He finally had reached the meeting place, and silently landed behind his lady. He walked slowly up to her, and in a quiet voice said, "Good evening, My Lady," He looked around at the darkness, and corrected himself. "I guess I should say good night." He walked to stand by her side, and smiled nervously at her.

" _Bonjour_ Chat," she smiled back, and it momentarily took his breath away. Not that that was new, but tonight it was especially nerve-wracking, seeing as he was about to admit his undying love for her. "I'm glad you could make it to patrol tonight."

"How could I miss it?" he asked playfully. "Any chance to be with you is a chance I would never want to pass up." He gently took her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

Ladybug rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Ah, always the flirt, Chat Noir."

"Only with you, Bugaboo." Chat dropped her hand and stepped closer. "So…" he said a bit awkwardly, "did anything interesting happen while you were waiting for me?"

"Not really. It's been very peaceful. Thank goodness for that." She inspected the city from the rooftop they stood on. "So, I think tonight you should take section A and D and I'll take section B and C. Does that sound good?"

"Didn't I take Route A and D last night?" Chat tilted his head in confusion.

Ladybug laughed and shook her head. "We didn't have patrol last night, silly."

"We didn't?"

"Nope," she said and smiled mischievously. "I'm afraid that your memory is quite 'claw-ful'."

God, he loved this woman. He dramatically placed his hands on his heart. "Ah, My Lady, you wound me. You've hurt my 'felines'."

She giggled, feeling very different tonight. Usually she hated his puns and flirty remarks, but ever since yesterday's Akuma attack, she felt quite differently towards him. She wasn't entirely sure what she felt, but it wasn't the usual annoyance she experienced when he acted this way. "It's not my fault your recollection of things is 'cat-astrophic'."

Chat had also noticed this shift in her, and it had given him new hope that he might have a chance with her. He took in a deep breath, shutting his eyes. He had to do this. If he didn't he might never get a chance again because he would be too scared. He opened his eyes, mustering up his courage, and took another step towards her. "Ladybug, I-I have something I-I want to tell you."

Ladybug looked at him in concern. "What is it?"

"W-well, we've been partners for a long time…"

She smiled. "Nearly two years." She could still remember their first meeting, where she was still awkwardly trying to figure out how to be Ladybug. She giggled at the memory of swinging him around by his tail in the arena. It was so long ago. She reminisced for a moment and then turned her attention back to him.

He continued, "Well, we've gotten to know each other very well, even if we still don't know each other's identities. Of course, I know you want to follow the rules, so I would never try to find out without your consent." He mentally slapped himself for rambling like an idiot. "Um, anyways…." He struggled to get his words out. "Over the years, you've shown me how incredible you are. You're so brave and strong and smart. What I am going to tell you is something I have put off for a long time, and now I finally have worked up the courage to tell you. My lady, I…." He was cut off by a piercing shriek that echoed through the silent night.

 **A/N: A little cheesy, I know. It will get better. Hopefully. Sorry for the cliff hanger, I couldn't resist, though I'm sure those of you who actually read my story might not consider it much of a cliff hanger. I'll try to keep a schedule and update once a week, though I might not always stay on track due to my very large pile of homework. Anyways, thanks for reading the first chapter! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay... I know I said I would update weekly, but the last chapter was so cheesy that I had to put something exciting in. Anyways, hopefully those of you who read this will like it.**

Chat and Ladybug both tensed up at the sound, whipping their heads in the direction it came from. They slowly looked back at each other.

"What was that?" asked Ladybug.

"Sounded like a scream to me," replied Chat.

Ladybug smacked her partner upside the head and put her hands on her hips. "Thanks, Captain Obvious. Of course, it was a scream!" She calmed down and looked back at the area where the sound originated. "Why did someone scream, though? It doesn't sound like there's an attack going on and it's quiet now."

Chat rubbed his head. "Only one way to find out, I suppose." He took out his staff and prepared to jump off. Ladybug took out her yo-yo and did the same, swinging it and latching it on the side of a building.

"Let's go."

They took off and looked for the source of the noise. It wasn't easy since all the streets were dark, and there weren't any other screams to lead them to the spot. With some difficulty, they eventually came upon a dark street, where they heard quiet sobs. Ladybug and Chat looked at each other nervously. They dealt with Akuma attacks almost every day, but this was a little different. They leapt off the rooftops and landed on the pavement softly. The person crying uttered a small scream in fright, but then saw who it was and ran towards them.

It turned out that the frightened person was a young woman who was around the same age as the two heroes. Tears streamed down her face and she fell to her knees at their feet. "P-please…" she choked out. "P-please help m-m-me." Chat Noir reached down and laid a gentle hand on the shoulder of the girl.

'Are you alright miss? What happened?" He calmly got down on one knee and held her shoulders, trying to calm her.

"I-I…. Today m-my brother went missing. It-it was late, and he w-wasn't home. M-m-my mother sent me out to look for him." She was clearly having a hard time speaking without stuttering, she was sobbing desperately and close to having a panic attack.

Ladybug got down next to Chat and the girl. "What happened then?" she questioned kindly.

"W-well, I went to look for him in p-places that I though he m-might be. I thought he might be s-somewhere near, s-so I came into this st-street." She wiped away the tears on her face, but fresh ones replaced those as she gasped for air. "I saw someone lying there. I-I got closer, and I found my brother lying there." She gestured wildly over at the figure of a person lying on the street. "I think he's…. I think he's dead!" she wailed in agony, crumpling into a ball and sobbing loudly.

The duo glanced nervously at the body on the street, and walked over to inspect him. They almost never encountered dead people, and they didn't really know what to do.

They approached the man, and what they saw made them both recoil in fear. The man looked pretty dead to them, though that wasn't what disturbed them most. It was his skin. His skin had been turned blue, and black lines popped out of his face. On closer inspection, they discovered that the lines were his veins. Their stomachs dropped when they realized that his blood had been turned black.

The heroes looked at each other in horror. They looked down at the man again and pulled open one of his eyelids, finding that they had been turned completely black. Ladybug quickly dropped the eyelid and pulled back from the body. Behind them, the young girl cried out, mourning the loss of her brother. Chat and Ladybug stared at each other for a moment, communicating only with their eyes. After the brief moment spent on this communication, Ladybug walked over to the girl to comfort her, and Chat inspected the body more closely.

His eyes roamed over the face and, when he could look at it no longer, down the body of the girl's brother. He searched all the way down until he reached the hands. One of the hands were loose and on the ground, the other clenched in a tight fist. Chat eyed the hand suspiciously.

"My Lady, you might want to come and see this."

Ladybug looked up, murmured a few calming words to the girl, and walked over. "What is it?"

He pointed at the fisted hand. "Look. Wouldn't you say that's unusual?" He ran his hand through his hair. "It almost looks as if…. he's holding something."

His partner's eyes widened. "He probably is." She cautiously moved her hand over to his, and pulled the hand out of its position. Something fell out, and she scrambled to pick it up. It was a folded piece of paper with the hero's names crawled on it. They stared at each other in shock, quickly unfolding the paper. It was a note written in a jumble of letters, letters that didn't form any real words.

"What the hell?" Ladybug muttered. "Is this some kind of foreign language?"

Chat stared at the paper and slowly shook his head. "I don't think so."

The note said, ' **Mnja gnaxnb, r qjen gnjam xo hxd jwm hxda lxdajpnxdb jlcb juu cqaxdpqzdc yjarb. Qjftvxcq jwm grb yrcrodu jtdvjb wnena anjuuh bcxxm j lqjwln jpjrwbc cqn arwp xo mnbcadlcrxw jwm cqn njaarwpb xo mxnbw'c vnjw wx xen msnb. Kn yanyjanm cx ojln vh yxfna. Rc rb j oxaln hxd fruu wnena dwmnabcjwm, jwm cqjc fruu vjtn jxd bx vdlg njbrna cx mnojc. Kn anjmh gnaxb, kn anjmh cx ojln hxda rwnercjkun mxxv, knljdbn cqrb vjwrb xwuh j bjvyun xo fqje r ljw mx.** '

"This is definitely a code. No language that I've seen looks like this," Chat explained.

"And how many languages have you seen?" asked Ladybug skeptically.

"A lot. I've had a very formal education." He mentally slapped himself. He should not have said that.

"Okay…. So we need to d—" Ladybug was suddenly cut off when a blue and black hand grabbed her wrist. She screamed in horror, startling Chat and causing him to yelp. They both looked down slowly at the man, their eyes wide. His all-black eyes had flown open, and he was heaving and gasping for air. "I don't believe it," whimpered Ladybug. "He's alive…."

"H-h-h…" the man trembled and tried to get words out. "Help…me…." It had taken all his effort to get those words out, and he passed out. The crying girl looked up at the sound of her brother's voice. She rushed over and kneeled down at his side.

"Is-is he alive?" she asked, her eyes huge.

Ladybug nodded. "He is. But we have to find someone who can heal him."

Chat raised his eyebrow. "Who could do that?"

She tapped her chin. "I think I know someone who can help. What about the code?"

Chat thought for a minute, and then smiled. "I have just the person for that."

 **A/N: So that chapter was a little dark. Obviously I'm adding my own characters, and they may or may not be important later in the story. The jumble of words were a code, and a real one. I had to make my own code and encrypt the entire note. It's just a basic shift code, so those of you who actually want to try and figure it out before I reveal what it says, it shouldn't be that hard. Anyways, thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay! So, I finally finished chapter three, which is harder than it sounds because I'm practically drowning in homework. Anyways, this one is a little bit longer. It isn't too long, but it's still a little elongated. Anyways, if I made any mistakes, please, please, please let me know. All I want to do is write a story that you guys will enjoy, so I have to try not to make too many mistakes!**

 **Also,** **Kmbrun** **: You guessed it exactly. Though I didn't actually include it yet, he will show up in the story eventually, hopefully more than once.**

 **As always, thank you to those who reviewed! Enjoy!**

It was the morning after the incident, and Marinette was fast asleep. Well, if you count tossing and turning around in bed due to nightmares as fast asleep. It wasn't a big surprise that she was having these nightmares though. It was a long night, and the very thought of the boy sent chills down her spine. She could barely look at him as she brought him over to Master Fu. If anyone could heal the boy, it was Fu. The night turned worse, though, when Fu said he had no idea what caused it and, until he did, he wouldn't be able to heal the young man. That was certainly problematic.

Light streamed through the window of Marinette's bedroom, and shone on her face. However, that wasn't what woke her up. There was a noisy thud sounding from the roof, followed by a yelp of surprise, jerking Marinette awake. She let out a small scream and sat upright, suspiciously scanning the room for intruders. After a few seconds, she determined there was no one there and shrugged, laying back down. Footsteps thumped on the roof as she was just about to close her eyes.

As if on cue, she leapt out of bed, grabbed one of her sharp crochet needles, and snuck up the stairs to the roof as stealthily as possible. She opened up the hatch enough so that she could see, but not enough to be noticed by the intruder. All she could see was the trespasser's feet, which were all black and leather, and were getting closer and closer to her. When the feet got close enough, Marinette raised the needle and stabbed it as hard as humanely possible into the foot.

The infiltrator let out a loud screech of pain. "OW!" He hopped on one foot and held his other, falling over in the process. "Owww…." He moaned again. Marinette took advantage of his position and jumped out of the hatch, pointing the crochet needle at him and whipped out her phone. "Don't move a muscle. I'm calling the police-"she looked down at the invader for the first time, and her eyes widened. "…Chat?"

Chat Noir grimaced in pain. "Morning, Princess." He was still clutching his foot. The needle hadn't penetrated his armor, of course, but it still hurt. In fact, Marinette had stabbed him so hard that her needle was dented.

Marinette looked up and exhaled, annoyed that she had to deal with this so early in the morning, then looked back down and realized what she had done. "I- Oh my god, are you okay?" She immediately got down on her knees and helped him sit up. "I'm so sorry… I thought you were a robber. I mean, it would be kind of weird if someone were to go rob someone in broad daylight, but still….."

The hero chuckled, charmed as always by the sweet girl's kind heart. "That was some hit, Mari. You dented your needle." He rubbed his foot, as if that would do anything. "Anyways…" he stood up and became serious, "I came here because I could really use your help. You see, Ladybug and I ran into a… problem during patrol.

Marinette raised her eyebrows, trying to act surprised. "Oh…? What was it?"

"Well," Chat shuddered, "we thought we found a dead person on the streets, but it turns out he was alive. However, he was badly injured, and we think he might be cursed… maybe? See, we're not exactly sure who or **_what_** did this to him. We found a note in his hand though, and we think it might be by the thing that hurt him." The hero pulled out the note and showed it to her. "I'm guessing it's in code. It's not in any language I recognize. My guess is that it's a basic Ceaser Shift Code, but I'm not sure. I know that you're good at codes, so I was wondering if you could help me."

"I guess I could. Are you sure you want me to read it? I, uh, I'm no hero, so I don't know if I would be the perfect candidate." Marinette was good at codes though. She remembered spending a unit on them in class, and she had breezed right through it. If you figured out one letter in a shifter alphabet, you could figure out the rest. She thought about this for a moment, and then she realized something. "Hey…. How did you know I was good at codes?" She narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously, crossing her arms.

Chat waved his hand casually, but panicked on the inside, mentally cursing himself for talking so carelessly. Since he was in her class as Adrien, of course he knew how good she was. She was so fast that he was almost jealous, and he had asked to work with her many times. "Well," he said, talking like a normal person who hadn't just screwed up, "you're so smart that it's completely obvious. Besides, I'm pretty sure that one time I came over you told me about how you were working on it in your class." Chat had visited her multiple times. He liked to get to know her when she wasn't all nervous around him. Of course, he had no idea why Mari was so nervous around Adrien. It was all so strange, but he loved hanging around her anyways.

Marinette's posture relaxed, and she uncrossed her arms and opened her eyes back to normal. She smiled, and pushed his shoulder. "Silly cat. So, can we take a look at the note?"

Chat handed the note over willingly, and Marinette opened it and examined it. They stood a few moments in silence while she scanned the note, looking for isolated letters. "Okay," she said abruptly, causing Chat to jump, "I think I can figure this out, but it's kind of long, so it might take a few minutes." She walked over to her desk, sitting down and pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil. "So, the first thing we have to do is look for isolated letters. They will most likely be an 'A' or an 'I'. So, I say we try the 'A' first.

Marinette had just gotten to work when they heard sirens outside. They looked at each other in alarm, then ran downstairs and out of the bakery. There were police and emergency responders. The two teenagers' stomachs fell as they looked past all the chaos and saw a body being put on a stretcher. It was blue, with black marks on it. The mysterious evil power had taken another victim.

Marinette backed away from the scene, and said, "I have to go."

Chat nodded. "That's probably for the best. I have to talk to the authorities and address the people. I hope Ladybug shows up soon." He looked around quickly, and then back at Mari. "Be safe. Stay in your house." Mari nodded, knowing full well that she was not going to be doing that anytime soon. She turned and ran around to an abandoned street, and whispered out for Tikki.

The small Kwami flew out, her usually cheerful face now an image of concern. "No time to waste," she squeaked, "lets get to it!"

Marintette nodded. "I couldn't agree more. The people need my help! Tikki, Spots On!" She transformed into Ladybug, pink light flashing everywhere. She quickly ran out of the street and up to where Chat was standing. "Sorry I'm late. What's going on?"

Her partner pointed to the woman being carried on the stretcher. "Whatever attacked that boy last night has taken another victim. The police and emergency responders said that they're going to let us inspect the body in just a minute. For now, we have to wait here. The police force is making sure that no citizens or news people see this."

The spotted heroine nodded approvingly. "Good. The people would fly into a panic if they saw this. It's way beyond usual Akuma evil."

Chat nodded back silently. They stood there for a minute together, quietly inspecting the chaotic scene that took place before them.

The chief of police walked up to them, sweat dripping down his forehead, and gestured to the two heroes. "You can look at the victim now. The responders have already got him all ready to go to the hospital."

Ladybug shook her head. She opened her mouth to speak, but Chat beat her to it, unaware she was about to talk.

"The hospital won't do anything for this kind of thing."

Ladybug nodded in agreement. "I know a healer who can help. Let us take the victim to him."

The chief shrugged. "I'll notify the team, then." He turned around, leading the way to the victim. The heroes followed, and quickly made their way up to the victim. They both scanned the body, both looking for any clues as to who might have done this.

Chat looked at one of the hands which, same as the last person, was curled up into a tight fist. "My Lady…" he mumbled. The heroine looked up, and glanced in the same direction that her partner was looking.

Her eyes widened. "Do- do you think it…" She was cut off by her own breathlessness, and reached a trembling hand towards the clenched fist. She pried it apart, and out fell a piece of paper.

It was a note. And it was written all in code.

 **A/N: Ooooooh another cliff hanger…. It's all too fun. I understand why authors do it now. Anyways, I'm staying on schedule, so another chapter will be posted next week, unless I post it earlier, which is always a possibility. But it will preferably be a week at the longest. Anyways, thanks for reading Chapter Three!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hellooooo! Sorry I'm a little late updating the story. I had a big project I had to work on, so I couldn't squeeze in the time. However, Holiday break has started, so I now can write and hopefully write and post a few more chapters before school starts back up again. Thank you for the kind reviews, by the way. Enjoy!**

"Okay," said Chat. "Now we have two notes, all in code."

Ladybug nodded silently and sat down on the curb of the sidewalk, looking solemnly at two of the authority figures, who were currently yelling at each other about something. "Have you decoded the first message yet?" Of course, she knew that he hadn't, but she wasn't about to let him know that.

He shook his head and sat down next to her. "No. I found someone to help, though. She's really smart!" Chat smiled brightly, thinking fondly of his friend. "Once we figure out what's causing this and defeat it, everything will go back to normal." He nodded confidently, like he was completely sure of himself.

However, Ladybug sighed in frustration. "I don't know, Chat, what if this… this… _thing_ is far more powerful than anything we have ever dealt with? What if we can't defeat it? All we have ever fought is Hawkmoth's silly akumas, and even then, we sometimes have a hard time beating _those_." She looked down at the pavement, discouraged in her ability to face whatever big opponent they would have to face.

Chat frowned sadly and picked up one of her hands. "Look," he started, "I know this is different, and I know it's stressful and scary, but we can do this. When we work together, we're unstoppable, and I have complete confidence in us." He squeezed her hand, then dropped it to gently turn her face towards his. "We can do it." He smiled at her but pulled his hands away, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.

She tilted her head in thought, then smiled back at him. "Yeah. I guess we can."

Chat stood up. "That's the spirit, M'lady! Now, we have to—"

"—Ladybug," interrupted the Chief of Police, walking over, "you can take the victim to your healer now."

"Why did it take so long?" Ladybug asked.

"We had to get clearance from higher medical authorities and higher city authorities," explained the man.

"Okay," responded the heroine, "where is she?"

The man simply pointed in the direction of the victim and walked off.

Ladybug turned to Chat and tried to smile. "Well, time to bother the healer again. I'll see you soon." She latched her yo-yo onto a building and prepared to leap off. Before she could, Chat grabbed her arm.

"Wait!" She looked back in concern. Chat flushed a little before continuing. "Sorry, it's just… am I going to be able to meet the healer anytime soon?"

Ladybug stared thoughtfully at him. "Well, hopefully. Master Fu will let you meet him when the time is right." She tugged on her yo-yo and flew off.

"But when is that going to be?" he called after her. She didn't hear him though. He sighed and turned around, heading back in the direction of the bakery. He leapt onto the top of Marinette's roof and knocked on the hatch that lead in to the bedroom. There was no answer, but he entered anyway. "Marinette?" he called softly.

Chat walked slowly around the room, looking for his friend. She was nowhere to be found. He started to panic, and jogged downstairs. Thankfully, her parents weren't home, so he was free to search the house and the bakery. No sign of her. He cursed softly, and ran outside. His head whipped around in all directions, searching.

 _'_ _Please oh please let her be safe,'_ he thought desperately. _'If she's in danger it's my fault. I left her alone,'_ The distressed hero searched the entirety of the block around her house. Nothing. She could have gone anywhere, and Chat had no idea where that could be. He was going to need some help if he was going to search the whole city for her. His eyes suddenly lit up, and a lightbulb went off in his brain. _His classmates._ They could help him. Well, most of them could, anyways. Chat looked around for people before running into a small alleyway and transforming back. Plagg flew out of his ring and started to whine.

"That took forever," he moaned. "I'm hungry!"

Adrien rolled his eyes. "I'll get you some cheese later! Right now, there are more important things I have to do." He whipped out his phone as Plagg whined some more, and called Alya. If anyone knew where Mari was, it would be her. The phone rang twice before Alya picked up.

"Adrien, hey," she said.

Adrien quickly greeted her before asking her frantically, "Alya, have you seen Marinette? I was with her this morning and by," he hesitated slightly, looking for the right words to say, "unfortunate circumstances… we got separated! I can't find her anywhere and I'm really worried! I was hoping she was with you. Have you seen her?"

"Woah, calm down. Wait… so you were with Mari this morning? Why?" Her voice seemed almost… excited? Adrien didn't know why, but that wasn't important right now.

"Eh… well, you see, she was helping me with a school project," he lied. "Yeah, I didn't really get the concept, so she offered to help me so…"

"Alright," said Alya, getting back to business, "so you can't find her? How did you get separated?"

"Um…" he lied once more, "there was a robbery in a store by the park, and we had to run opposite ways."

"Okay…" Alya said suspiciously. She hadn't heard about a robbery on the news, but that didn't matter. Marinette could be in danger. "I'll meet you with everyone available at the school in twenty minutes, okay? We'll all look for her. Call anyone you know to come help. I'll try to call Marinette first."

"Good thinking. I'll call Nino." The two teenagers said goodbye and hung up. Adrien started to dial Nino's number but was interrupted when he heard shouting and squealing coming from across the street. Adrien looked up, seeing a group of girls who had recognized him. "Shit," he muttered. He put on his best smile and braced himself.

He finally escaped from the excited fangirls after signing autographs and taking pictures. Why did he have to be a model? With a bitter sigh, he pulled out his phone and called Nino.

Nino picked up and greeted him. "Hey dude, what's up?"

"Nino," Adrien said quickly, "Marinette is missing, we're all meeting at the school. Be there." Before his friend could ask any questions, Adrien hung up and sprinted as fast as he could to the school. Everyone in his class was already gathered at the front steps, even Chloe and Sabrina. Alya ran up to greet Adrien.

"What is Chloe doing here?" Adrien questioned.

"Well, I called Sabrina, so of course she told Chloe," she explained. "She's not here for Marinette though, only for you," she added viciously.

"Of course, she is," Adrien sighed. He followed Alya to the group, saying hello to everyone. Chloe pushed everyone out of her way as she sprinted up to Adrien, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Adrikins!" she squealed obnoxiously. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Adrien gently pried himself away and called for everyone's attention. He explained the situation in more depth, and everyone gasped in shock, excluding Chloe, who didn't care, and Alya, who already knew what was going on. The large group of teenagers formulated a plan, and all split up to search for their classmate.

Meanwhile, Ladybug was making her way to Master Fu, unaware that she had caused such a panic.

 **A/N: Woah, I guess Marinette is really important to Adrien, huh? *wiggles eyebrows and fangirls really hard* I hope you liked the chapter! Please review! Happy Holidays!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: …Okay, so I know it's been a long time since I've posted a chapter, and I'm very sorry, and also very lazy, and that's the biggest reason. Fortunately, it's been a three-day weekend, so I got a chapter. This chapter was a lot of fun to write, and I'm already working on the next one. Again, I apologize for the delay. Anyways, enjoy!**

After nearly two hours of searching, all the teens met back up at the school, tired and disappointed, and very, very worried. Alya was on the verge of tears, desperately calling her friend over and over again, while Nino put an arm around her, trying not to freak out. Kim and Alex were, for once, not arguing with each other, but stood next to each other quietly, watching Juleka attempting to comfort a whimpering Rose. Nathanael furiously scribbled in his sketchbook, pressing down too hard and snapping the pencil in half, getting splinters in his hand. Max was pacing back and forth, while Sabrina observed him silently. Even she was worried about her classmate and regretted being so mean to her all the time.

Adrien sat on the steps, his face in his hands. Guilt and worry churned in his stomach. He couldn't help but feel that this was his fault. After all, he was the one who left her, and if he had just been more careful… In addition, he was very irritated, seeing as Chloe was still attached to him like some sort of leech, complaining to him about how she was tired, or how her professional chef had burned her breakfast or whatever tragedy had befallen her this morning.

"It's a travesty, Adrikins! A travesty!" Chloe dramatically put her head on Adrien's shoulder and pretended to weep. Adrien ignored her, which Chloe did not appreciate. "Uh, hello? Adrien?" He closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance, but the leech—um, Chloe… Chloe did not relent. "Adrien!" she snapped. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Please Chloe… just—not right now, okay?" Adrien muttered. He couldn't even bring himself to look at her right now. He knew that she wasn't the kindest girl in Paris, but wasn't she even a little bit worried about Marinette?

"But Adrikins," she whined, "this is a real problem! My daddy got me the wrong type of car! He got me some boring Aston-whatever it's called! I wanted a Bugatti!"

"You know what Chloe?" Adrien stood up angrily. "I'm sorry that your dad got you the wrong million-dollar car, but there are more important things to worry about here."

Chloe looked offended. "Like what?"

"Like the fact that Marinette is missing? You are unbelievable."

"Marinette? You think I'm worried about that little brat?" Chloe put her hands on her hips and laughed maliciously, drawing the attention of all of their classmates. "If you ask me, her being missing is the best thing that ever happened to this dumb class!"

Alya stood up furiously. "Why you little…" In a flash, she threw herself at Chloe, fists raised. The girl in yellow screeched in fear and hid behind Adrien.

"Adrien! Save me from this psycho!" Nino and Adrien grabbed Alya and restrained her, preventing her from attacking.

"Let go of me!" she screamed. "Nino! I swear to god, if you don't let go of me, you will regret it!"

"Alya, calm down," Nino said nervously." Alya stared at him furiously, and he gulped.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down? My best friend is missing! I can't reach her! I've called her a million times, but does she pick up? No! And this—this—this—" Alya broke down into angry and frustrated tears, while Chloe laughed.

"Pathetic," she said with a smirk. Adrien's blood boiled. Neither Alya nor Marinette had done anything to deserve this, and Adrien was done with Chloe's vicious behavior.

"Stop it Chloe." He let go of Alya's arm and took a step towards the laughing girl. "You've crossed the line," he said quietly.

"Oh, please, Adrien," she snorted, and examined her nails.

"I'm serious!" he was losing his temper, and it was going to get ugly if this continued. "This is a serious situation! Marinette is out at who-knows-where and hasn't returned! She could've been kidnapped for all we know!" Chloe took a step back as his voice got louder and angrier, looking startled. "And you aren't being the least bit helpful, no one appreciates your whining. You're acting like a child!"

"A-Adrien, I—" Chloe stammered.

"No! I'm not done. This is where you shut up and listen to me! If you have a shred of kindness in your heart and decide that you want to help look for Marinette, then by all means, stay. But if you just want to hang around and do nothing but make people feel worse, then you need to leave."

"But—"

"Leave!" Adrien pointed her away, then crossed his arms with determination. Chloe's lip trembled, and she burst into tears, running home and yelling something about telling her father. Adrien sighed in relief and turned back around to face his classmates, who were all staring at him in a combination of fear and awe. "Sorry about that," he smiled apologetically.

"Well," Nino sighed, "I guess that takes care of one problem."

"Yeah," replied Adrien. "I guess it does."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Ladybug had just barely returned home. She had talked with Fu for a long time about the villain and the victims and was exhausted. She collapsed on her bed and tiredly told Tikki to transform her back to normal. Soon, a frazzled Marinette lay there, laying face down. She wanted to go to sleep, but she thought maybe she should call Alya and tell her she wasn't coming to school tomorrow.

She pulled out her phone and turned it on, and several missed call notifications along with even more text messages. Her eyes widened at the notifications. "Fifty-seven missed calls!?" she yelped. "One hundred and thirty-two text messages!?" She scrolled through the text messages, feeling more and more guilty after reading each one. "I need to get to the school."

 **A/N: Uh oh…. Marinette is in big trouble. Also, Adrien got pretty vicious there. That was fun to write. Also, my poor boy Nathanael still has splinters in his hand! Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! Remember to review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Wow, two updates in one day! I guess it's just an apology present for taking so long on the last one. It is a little longer, but I really liked writing this one. Also, Adrienette! Enjoy!**

 **Warning, this does contain a minor season two spoiler! Read at your own risk!**

Marinette dashed down the stairs, heading into the bakery, where her parents were standing, both looking extremely worried. _'Well, Marinette,"_ she thought, _'you've certainly done it this time. Prepare for the worst.'_ Marinette cleared her throat, causing both her parents to whip around in alarm, their eyes widening when they saw her. The young girl made herself smaller on instinct, and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the worst scolding ever.

Instead of yelling, she heard her parents run towards her. She opened her eyes in time to see them both open their arms to embrace her. "Oh Marinette, where were you? We were so worried," said her mother.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause trouble. I'm just, I—I have a lot going on, especially with school, and I just went on a walk to clear my head," she lied.

"Just please—just please call us next time or tell us where you're going, okay?" her father told her.

Marinette nodded in understanding and looked apologetically at her parents. "I have to go to the school to see my friends. Alya called me like, a hundred times!" Despite her bad situation, she giggled a little. Her dad ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Sure thing, Kiddo. Just make sure you're back before…" he trailed off, looking at the clock, which read five-thirty, "be back before eight-thirty, got it?"

Marinette nodded again. "I will be. Don't worry." She turned and ran out of the bakery, almost tripping over her feet on the way. Good thing the school was only a block away. She dashed to the corner, clumsily pivoting and running towards the school. When she was only a short distance away, she could see almost all of her classmates standing there. She stopped, very abruptly. What was she going to do? What was she going to say? They were going to be so angry! Oh, yes, she had definitely done it this time.

Cautiously, she walked up to the front of the school where her class was waiting. They all looked scared and concerned, and she felt guilty that she was the cause of their worry. Taking a deep breath, she awkwardly addressed them. "Hey guys," she said meekly.

In almost perfect unison, her classmates turned to see the source of the noise. No one spoke, and no one moved. And, surprisingly to Marinette, the first one to react was not Alya, but Adrien. His face broke into a smile and he ran towards the shy girl and enveloped her in a tight hug.

"I was so worried about you," he said softly, "I thought I might never see you again." Marinette's face turned a deep crimson and, still in his embrace, watched her friends run towards her. Adrien finally pulled back, and Marinette observed tears of happiness and relief in the corners of his eyes. He smiled at her, and said, "I'm so glad you're safe."

Alya, who was done waiting, pushed Adrien out of the way and flung herself onto her best friend, crying into her shoulder. Marinette wrapped her arms around her friend and patted her back soothingly. After a minute or so, Alya pulled back, glaring intensely at Marinette.

"Where have you been?" she growled dangerously.

"Oh—uh—I—"

"Do you have any idea how worried I've been?! How worried we've all been? I called you a billion times and still no answer! It's like you completely disappeared! Where did you go? Why didn't you bother to call? Were you even considering how we would feel when we learned that you disappeared?" Alya finished her rant, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry, Alya, I—I just—I just…" Marinette stuttered.

Alya, on the verge of tears again, just nodded and pulled Mari in for another bone-crushing hug. "Just don't do it again, okay?"

"I won't," she reassured.

After Alya finally released her, she turned to her other friends. Nino came up to her and gave her a side hug. Kim and Max both patted her on the shoulder, while Alex, Juleka, Rose, and even Sabrina gave her friendly hugs. Nathanael shyly hugged her, blushing and letting go quickly. All of them told her how much they were glad to see her safe.

She had good friends.

XXXXXXXXX

The sun had gone down, and all of the teens were chatting and laughing happily with each other. Marinette, remembering her curfew, checked her phone. It was eight-fifteen. Groaning in disappointment, she stood up. Everyone quieted down to look at her, and she smiled at them sadly. "Unfortunately, my curfew is eight-thirty tonight. I should probably get home," she announced.

The others stood up and checked the time, muttering about how they should also go. Alya nudged Marinette's shoulder with her own. "I should probably get home too," she said. She turned to Nino. "Walk me home?"

Nino nodded and offered his arm, and Alya took it. "We'll see you tomorrow, dudes. Bye, Marinette, stay safe."

Mari nodded, grinning happily at the couple. They had been dating for about two years, and they made the best pair. "See you guys."

One by one, or by two, the other teens headed home, until it was just her and Adrien standing there. She tried not to notice that they were alone. Her face felt hot, and she fanned herself awkwardly with her hand.

Adrien moved closer to her until they were standing side by side. He smiled down at her, and she managed to smile back. "Can I… can I walk you home?" he asked softly.

"You—you want to walk me home?" Marinette stuttered.

"Of course!" he chuckled.

"Oh—okay," she squeaked. Taking a hesitant step forward, she made way towards her house with Adrien at her side. "I don't live that far away, but you know that, you've been to my house before." She played with the charm bracelet that he had gotten her for her birthday, the one matching his.

"When…" he cocked his head to the side, trying to remember. "Oh! I remember, that time I went to go practice video games with you. That was so long ago, what, one year? Two years? Anyways, that's kinda the only time we've hung out together. We should do it again some time."

"Uh… uh, yeah. We definitely should. That would be really fun."

They stopped outside the bakery, and before Marinette could thank him, he stopped her with a question. "Marinette, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, no problem."

"I hope this isn't too forward or anything, but… are you scared of me? Do I come on too strong?"

She blinked in surprise. "Wha—wait, what?"

"It's just…" he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "You just seem to get really jumpy around me and I was just wondering if it was something I did."

"Oh, Adrien, I'm really sorry. I guess I'm just, well, uh…" she thought for a moment. "You're just kind of… intimidating. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love to hang out with you, it's just that, well… you're so smart and good at so many things and just a really good person and I really kind of want to be around you all the time and ohgodimrambling—"

"Mari, Mari," he cut her off, laughing, "it's okay, I just wanted to know if I made you feel uncomfortable at all. I'm glad I didn't. Anyways, I should probably let you go inside now."

"Oh, yeah," she replied, "probably. Thanks for walking me home."

"No problem." He turned to leave, but then stopped and faced her. "Oh, and Marinette? I'm glad you're safe." He stepped closer to her and kissed her on the cheek, then stepped back and left.

Marinette stood there, dazed and surprised. "Oh, yeah," she repeated stupidly. Realization of what just happened slowly worked itself into her brain. A big smile spread onto her face, and her whole body tingled with euphoria. Turning around, she walked through the door to the bakery.

XXXXXXXXX

Back at his room, Adrien was not feeling as happy. What had he just done? He didn't regret it, but still… he loved Ladybug. There was no question in his heart. But still, there was something about that sweet girl that he just couldn't ignore. Was it possible to love two people at once? Did he love Marinette? Maybe. He didn't want to lead the poor girl on, but if he didn't love Ladybug, he would definitely love Marinette. Probably.

He groaned and rolled over on his bed, feeling confused and frustrated. Plagg, who gulped down another piece of cheese, looked down at Adrien. "Is there a problem kid?" he asked.

"I don't know, Plagg, but you wouldn't understand anyways," Adrien replied shortly.

The tiny cat shrugged. "Fair enough." He turned his attention back to his cheese, and Adrien went back to smothering himself with his pillow.

Why was love so confusing anyway?

 **A/N: Okay, so the spoiler was a small obscure detail in the story that wasn't that important, but I still feel it was worth mentioning. Anyway, in this story Ladybug and the rest of the crew are around fifteen or sixteen, since the birthday in S2 was Marinette's thirteenth or fourteenth birthday, which feels really strange to me. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! Remember, reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated! Bye!**


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